Friday, August 4, 2017

Post Mosul Liberation Day 23-24 Aug 2-3 2017

Removing rubble from west Mosul’s Zinjali neighborhood (AFP)

There are still Islamic State elements throughout Ninewa. In
Mosul, three female IS members were arrested
in Zuhur in the east. The security forces claimed they were spies. In Qayara,
to the southeast of the city, the insurgents killed a member of the security
forces and wounded another in a shooting. Finally, IS attacked two
villages in the Tal Afar district, but were turned back by the Hashd. The
Islamic State is obviously attempting to recover from their recent defeat in
Mosul. That has led to sporadic incidents in Ninewa. While these have been
largely ineffective, they do show that the militants have access to nearly
every part of the governorate.

The Iraqi forces are still waiting for the go ahead against
Tal Afar. National Security Adviser Falah Fayad was the latest to predict
that it would be a short battle. He joined Ninewa Operations Command head
General Najm al-Jabouri who similarly thought it would
be a quick fight because IS was a broken force. The district has been
surrounded by the Hashd for months now. That also gave plenty of time for any IS
fighters or leadership that wanted to get out to leave. Contrary to what
Jabouri said the insurgents have not lost their will to fight, yet Fayad and
Jabouri are probably correct that Tal Afar will not last long because there are
few fighters left there.

A source in parliament said that Prime Minister Haider Abadi
was going to appoint
General Abdul Amir al-Shammari to head security in Ninewa. A new Western Ninewa
Operations Command was also likely to be formed. The security file in Ninewa
has been chaotic for months now with too many units operating without any kind
of direction. If Shammari were put in charge of everything in the governorate
that might be an initial step towards bringing order to the situation. If
however, he is just to head a new command that will only be adding to the
problems with another organization working with all the others that already
lack coordination.

The U.S. State Department has contracted
the Janus Global Operations company to demine Mosul. This company has already
worked in Ramadi and done training in Irbil. Observers believe it will take a
year or more to remove all of the unexploded ordinance in the city. They are
not only a security risk, but they are delaying the return of people to Mosul.

Even though the Mosul battle is over the number of displaced
(IDPs) continued to go up. There were 838,044 IDPs on August 2, up from 837,450
on July 30. From July 28-30 more people departed camps than arrived. 185
families came into camps around Mosul, while 254 left. The summer heat was a
main motivation for people wanting out of the camps. The United Nations
interviewed 25 families who registered to leave. 12 said they would rent a
place or stay with relatives in east Mosul because their houses were destroyed
in the west or they were unable to return to their homes or IS still controlled
their areas. Niqash
talked with three IDPs who were living in southern Iraq. The first two did not
want to go back to their homes because they were afraid of violence, their
homes were wrecked, there were no services in Mosul, and they felt there were
more opportunities where they currently lived. The third person was a Turkmen
from Tal Afar who wanted to return, but couldn’t because IS still ran his town.
Many of the IDPs going to Mosul head for the east, but don’t live there. That
section of the city is safe, there’s housing available, and some work. Many
people have wanted out of the camps for some time, because their freedom of
movement is restricted. Add to that the lack of air conditioning during the
summer, and there is another incentive to make people leave. Still, the
continued stories of IS activities and the destruction in the west is leading
many people to stay where they are.

Iraq continues to receive donations to help rebuild. France pledged
$980,600 to the United Nations’ Development Programme to help with Ninewa.
Luxembourg said it would contribute
500,000 Euros to help remove explosive from Mosul. That adds to the $117
million from Germany,
$269 million from the United
States, and $12 million from China. That’s roughly $399 million in four
weeks since Mosul was freed. That’s a respectable start, but so much more will
be needed.

Finally, Ninewa’s Governor Noufal a-Akub attacked his critics.
He denied that he has been involved in any corruption and blamed his opponents
for playing partisan politics. The governor is in a precarious situation as he
has been expelled
from the ruling coalition, and is heading for questioning by the provincial
council so that they can move to dismiss him. This is what the local
politicians are focusing upon, while the pressing issues should be rebuilding
and ending the displacement crisis. Many other governorates that have recently
been liberated are going through the same turmoil.

IRAQ HISTORY TIMELINE

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About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com